XMen: Mutant Renaissance
by NahlaLebeau
Summary: A new twist in the Marvel Universe taking off after Hope sets out to find the "five lights". A young woman is murdered, and its up to her best friend and some X-Men to solve the crime. Rated M for language and later chapters. Transgender OC
1. Homecoming

DISCLAIMER: THE ONLY THINGS IN THIS STORY THAT I OWN ARE MY OC, AND THE STORY IDEA, EVERYTHING ELSE PERTAINING TO THE MARVEL UNIVERSE BELONGS TO MARVEL. I AM ONLY DOING WHAT ANY AVID FAN WOULD DO, AND PUTTING A BIT OF MYSELF INTO THE STORY. DONT WE ALL LIKE TO DO THAT? ^_^

Characters: Giselle Bermudez/Charm (OC), Piotr Rasputin/Colossus, Katherine Pryde/Shadowcat, Daken, Dr. Hank McCoy/Beast, Laura Kinney/X-23, Emma Frost, Scott Summers/Cyclops, Logan/James Howlett/Wolverine, Various other Marvel Universe Characters and OC's

Summary: A mutant who was left powered after the effects of M-Day has kept herself hidden from all forms of mutant detection, even Cerebra, thus bringing the number of surviving mutants up from 198 with the help of her "employers". But she has a secret that she keeps buried deeper than her mutation and her "job". Daken ends up in San Francisco the day after Hope Summers leaves Utopia to find "The Five Lights", and a series of events in that links the lives of all the players is set into motion. Things get crazy to say the least.

A/N: This story follows the base time line in the Marvel Universe up until the day after Hope departs to find "The Five Lights" from there, I have created my own story, and this is what you are about to enjoy. There are topics in this story that many may not want to deal with such as death, sexuality, gender identity, violence (which may become graphic at some points), and ultimately a love story between my OC, a good girl at heart who isn't so good for the sake of her own survival and an X-Man who had his heart and spirit broken and learns to love again. I hope you enjoy, and please read and review either via comments or private messages, because how can this story get any better without constructive input from the readers?

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><p><p>

**Chapter One**

**Homecoming**

3 am

It was one of those early mornings in the bay area where everything is still, and the fog is so thick, you can see it move around your hands like smoke. Even in late May, there was a chill in the air, and the entire city of San Francisco seemed to be asleep. The only people milling about the city were the homeless who refused the comforts of the many shelters, or the young people heading home from house parties after clubbing all night. It seemed like any other night, but if you happened to have senses beyond that of any ordinary human, you would've been able to feel it, the undeniable presence that clued you into the fact that there was something big about to happen. Something that would change everyone involved.

4 am

Miles out, on the mutant created Utopia, Wolverine was sitting on the edge of his bed, wondering what to do. He'd had a dream that had thrown the usually unshakeable mutant for a loop. He was in Japan, and his son Daken was looking at him. Only he didn't have the same anger and resentment he usually had for his father in his eyes. Just love and admiration. But oddly enough, that wasn't what threw him. What threw him was the girl standing next to his son. Daken was easily dwarfed next to her. Like his father, Daken was short, barely over 5'5'', and this girl was obviously about 6' tall. She had hazel-green eyes, and long dark hair. Her body was thin, athletic, and yet curvy. She looked almost like a model. What he found odd about her though was the fact that she was next to Daken, and it was obvious they were linked somehow, but _she_ seemed to be the one pulling the strings. Something that Logan knew Daken would never allow. Daken was all about control. And allowing this woman to control him was most definitely not something Daken would stand for. He shook his head, deciding that although the dream was odd, he was being stupid in allowing a dream about his son to mess with his mind. A few seconds later, the room is filled once again with the sound of Logan snoring.

11am, The Day Before, Madripoor

Daken was in a hotel above a bar wondering what he did to be so god-damned lucky. He'd been successfully unbothered by any one who might try to annoy him, but he'd been able to properly heal since his battle with that behemoth version of the Punisher. Finally back to his peak form after a few months of healing and making sure everything was back to how it should be, He was ready to go back to Utopia, and see what was going down out there. He'd been there before, getting to see memories of his mother that Xavier had lifted from Wolverine's consciousness so Daken could see them. That's another reason why he wanted to get back, so he could see what other truths the Professor could uncover behind all the lies he'd been force-fed throughout his life.

He got up, went to the mirror to make sure he was completely ready to see the sunlight, grabbed his suitcase, and hit the door. As he left, he dropped the money for his stay on the bar in front of the barkeep, and strode outside to a waiting car. He got in and headed to the airport. After getting through the ticket counter, then baggage claim, and security, he settled into his first class seat, ordered a glass of wine, and settled in to sleep for the entire flight. He woke up in San Francisco International Airport 11 hours later, and got into his reserved Balcony Suite at the Hyatt Regency on Embarcadero 13 hours later.

Being that it was now 3 am, and he was bored, he began looking for something to do. A walk down Market Street revealed the city to get a bit seedy and rough once you got passed the mall on 5th, and the shopping areas further from the waterfront. Then he got to Jones and decided to take a walk up and see what else there was. Obviously there was nothing to do at this time of night in this city, which made him wonder what brought people here. Then he saw something that piqued his interest. A club with a Marquee that read "The Power Exchange. He walked up to the door, and a bouncer checked his ID, then opened the door. He walked in and the man at the counter asked him fro $20, gave him a wristband, and sent him in.

On first glance, this place seemed to be nothing more than a strip club, but Daken smelled sex in this place, and then saw something that caused him to stop. An exotic beauty was on the main stage, dancing on a pole, with long dark hair. The dark, reddish-pink lighting obscured the color of her eyes, but she was exquisite. He could barely take his eyes off her. Her scent was a mystery to him, and he was instantly aware that she must be a mutant of some formidable power to be able to control even her scent. He moved closer to the stage, and took in the main room he was in. It was large, at least 50 feet in height, and large enough to be converted into a three story house. The main stage where the beautiful woman was dancing was on the far wall, with a pole in the middle, then a runway extended in front of the pole, ending in a round mini stage with another pole, on which this woman was dancing. There were white leather sofa's placed around the area, and on the wall to his right there was a door, and on the far wall near the stage, five steps leading up to the stage, and then it doubled back into a staircase, leading up to a balcony. They were the only two in this room, but his acute senses let him glean that there were close to 100 people in this establishment, obviously in the areas he had yet to explore.

The woman continued dancing, and as he watched her, he took another deep breath, and finally he smelled something coming from her. A strong heady scent, danger, sex, and power, all mixed, creating a scent he knew could only come from her. She oozed these qualities, and it turned him on, but there was something in the scent he couldn't place, feeling it couldn't be coming from her. He dismissed it as something that must've mingled with her scent somewhere else in this place. He came close to the stage now, and was right up against the edge, and looked her in the eyes. She smiled, and bent down, her long dark hair cascading over her shoulders.

"Hello there Beauty," he said to her as she came close enough to hear him, "And what is your name?"

"Lola," she said, her voice sounding breathy, and husky, as though she'd been singing all night.

"Well, Lola," he said with an expression that gave away his desire immediately, "Would you like to join me?"

She smiled, and he extended his hand to her. She took it, and gracefully got off the stage, and looked up at him. She was about 5'3'', and at this close range, she appeared to be Asian, with contacts in that glowed an inhuman green in the blacklights. They went to the the door in the wall, which lead to a dark basement. She lead the way, and as the descended into darkness, the smell of sex surrounded him. There was a hallway that went off to the left, then about 6 feet in, turned left again, with a series of rooms, all door-less, with nothing more than chains which hung the length of the doors to the rooms in use. People gathered around the doors, trying to get a good view of what was going on in these rooms. She led him to the door at the far right end of the hall, and the entered, she closed the chain behind them.

The room was long and rectangular, with a chair in the right corner, behind a large ficus plant. Obviously to try and offer some concealment to the less adventurous exhibitionists who visited this place. The kissed briefly, and he sat down in the leather chair. She sat in his lap and bent to whisper in his ear, "Now just close your eyes, and let me do the rest."

1pm, that afternoon

"Logan, if you're not going to pay attention, at least pretend you're listening to me," Emma Frost said annoyed. There was obviously something on his mind, and even though she could try her damnedest to get in there and figure it out, she didn't really have the patience or the interest in figuring it out. There were more important things going on at the moment. Hope had just gotten to Canada in search of the first of five new mutants who registered on Cerebra since the events of what some of the students have called the Second Coming, of which the appropriateness of the moniker is not lost on her, and the entire team has been in a meeting for the last few hours trying to figure out what this might mean for everyone involved.

"Sorry Emma, Just a bit preoccupied at the moment," He said barely above a mumble.

"What seems to be troubling you, my friend," Hank asked. He was able to tell that something was weighing on Logan's mind all day. He could smell it on his friend.

"Nothing," Logan replied, effectively ending the conversation as quickly as it had begun.

"Logan," Hank said, "burying things that trouble is something that we all know is not exactly a wise move for you. You can trust us. What is it that perturbs you," Hank pressed once more. Logan just glared at him, and that truly was the end of the topic...for now.

"Well, I think perhaps we should all break until we hear something from Hope," Scott interjected, trying to change the direction of things, "We wont know for sure what any of this means until we get some news from her"

"Scott's right," Emma said, resigned to the fact that this meeting was pretty much just a review for the people involved, "Let's all just take some time to ourselves, and for the love of God, Logan, take care of whatever maybe bothering you. We can't have any one of us distracted in case Hope or any one else needs us."

"Sure, anything for you Emma," Logan said sarcastically. Without another word he left the room, and everyone else slowly gathered up their things and followed suit.

Meanwhile...

"Are these the only ones you have," The girl asked the makeup artist. Her long dark hair fell in waves down her back, and her hazel-green eyes were analyzing the selection of false eyelashes that were on display. The makeup artist looked at her with slight annoyance, and said in a way that was barely polite, "Yes those are the only ones we have right now."

Giselle looked at the woman, and then moved on to a different area of the store. Normally she loved coming to the Sephora at Powell Street, but today seemed to be one of the more difficult days. Her friend Audrey wasn't working today, which meant most of the people who were working today were going to be straight up rude. Not that Giselle wasn't used to people being rude to her wherever she went. People tended to act that way when someone so obviously different was around them. She just got passed it by reminding herself that not everyone was as enlightened to the differences between people in the world as she and her friends were. She moved over to the Stila display, looking for her favorite kajal eyeliner when she saw a woman walk in that made her stop and look in awe.

The woman was tall, as tall as she was, with beautiful dark skin that glowed in a way that screamed of great skin care, and perfect cheekbones. Her hair was long and white, going to the middle of her back in beachy waves. Her eyes were ice blue. Giselle closed her eyes and began to let her powers take over, letting her mind begin to stretch out to sense this woman's energy without entering her mind. As she got mentally closer to the woman, she sensed a strong energy in the room, getting immensely stronger the closer her mind came to the woman. Then two words flashed across her consciousness that made her eyes snap open. _QUEEN. MUTANT._

As soon as her eyes were open she saw the tall woman looking at her. The woman approached, and extended her hand, although the look in her eyes showed she was offended.

"I'm Ororo Iqadi T'Challa, and you are," she said, and then smiled at the look of surprise and nervousness that appeared across Giselle's face. Giselle extended her hand to Ororo and cleared her throat, straightened up and looked the Queen in the eye.

"Giselle Bermudez," she said with confidence and then smiled back, "I'm sorry about that, I had no idea who you were, but felt something was similar about us. Just wanted to make a connection."

"No trouble my dear, however next time, I suggest you just come up and say hello," Storm said with a laugh. They began to talk, and shopped together for a bit. Then Giselle's phone rang.

"Excuse me, I have to get this," She said to her new friend. She answered the call, knowing she wasn't going to like what she was about to hear, "Hello? Oh, hey Bionka," she said greeting her boss and mentor.

"Girl, I need you to get to HQ right away, we have a situation, and it is not looking good. I'll give u the 411 when u get here," Bionka said and then hung up. Giselle was definitely not happy about this. She turned to Ororo with a look of regret on her face, "Hey girl, I gotta hit it, work stuff." Ororo took it in stride, "Not a problem new friend, you know how to reach me if you need to. Have a good day," she said, hugging Giselle. The embraced for a few more minutes, and then Giselle was off. _What in gay hell does this woman want_, thought Giselle, _As far as I knew, we didn't have any jobs scheduled for another few weeks. Argh!_

She arrived at HQ several minutes later, shopping bags still in tow, her long dark brown hair bouncing as she walked. The HQ building was, to the casual observer, a medical building around the corner from St. Francis Hospital. And the first two floors kept the illusion up, hosting non-profit HIV prevention organizations, and a medical spa. However, if you punched the right code into the elevator, and went beyond the second floor, you entered an entirely new kind of business. A place Giselle was under strict orders from Bionka never to call this place anything other than her job, and to make up a lie if she was ever asked anything further. With her abilities however, Giselle could make people simply forget they had asked her anything in the first place.

She entered the War Room, and sat down, obviously the last one to enter. Her other two colleagues were already there, but one was missing.

"Nice of you to finally join us," Bionka said, "We have much to discuss. Last night one of our agents was compromised. After a few drinks too many at a bar down by Sutter and Market, she went to the Power Exchange. After that, no one knows what happened. About an hour ago, she was found dead in her home in the Fillmore District. We don't know what took place, but our Crime Lab Technicians believe it was the work of another mutant. We need to find out exactly what took place, and all of you are going to be instrumental in that. And remember, keep your cloaking devices on at all time. The last thing we need is for those do-gooders out on Utopia to come gallivanting after us on this one. And Charm," she said to Giselle, "The next time you reach out and touch somebody again like you're Diana Ross or something, it will not end well for you."

So that's my first chapter. Please R&R, I would love the feedback! I cant grow as a writer without you guys helping me along!


	2. Heartbreak

DISCLAIMER: THE ONLY THINGS IN THIS STORY THAT I OWN ARE MY OC, AND THE STORY IDEA, EVERYTHING ELSE PERTAINING TO THE MARVEL UNIVERSE BELONGS TO MARVEL. I AM ONLY DOING WHAT ANY AVID FAN WOULD DO, AND PUTTING A BIT OF MYSELF INTO THE STORY. DONT WE ALL LIKE TO DO THAT? ^_^

Characters: Giselle Bermudez/Charm (OC), Piotr Rasputin/Colossus, Katherine Pryde/Shadowcat, Daken, Dr. Hank McCoy/Beast, Laura Kinney/X-23, Emma Frost, Scott Summers/Cyclops, Logan/James Howlett/Wolverine, Various other Marvel Universe Characters and OC's

Summary: Kitty and Peter have a conversation that changes things. Giselle and her colleagues investigate the death of Lola, and Daken begins to feel something that he cant explain.

A/N: How did you guys like the last chapter? I'm sorry it took so long for me to post this short chapter, but hopefully you guys like it. Please R&R!

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><p><strong>Chapter Two<strong>

**Hearts**

The next day, 12pm

"Peter, we cant keep this up, its not fair to you at all," Kitty said. She and Peter were having another telepathic session via Emma's psi-link, allowing them to talk in Kitty's current state. Since returning from the giant bullet that was fired off the Breakworld in their first mission together since Kitty returned to the X-Men, and Peter returned from the dead, she was unable to unphase, something that was attributed to an intense muscle according Dr. Kavita Rao. This also left Kitty unable to speak, and so she and her Russian giant, Colossus, had to speak in Emma Frost's mind.

"Katya, what are you saying? It doesn't matter to me, as long as I can spend some time with you I'm happy," Peter said. It seemed like they had been having this conversation more and more, and Peter didn't like where it was heading. He could feel Kitty pulling away from him, and he didn't want that to happen. He just wanted to love her as best he could, but also knew that she could be stubborn and if she wasn't feeling the direction this was heading in, she would end it. Never mind that she had a monster crush on him since she was 15. Never mind all they had been through together over the years.

"I love you and that's all that counts, we'll get through this and everything will be set right my love," he said, trying to assuage her fears. But she wouldn't be deterred. Today was the day as far as she was concerned. No matter what he said, she knew it was only a matter of time before he couldn't take it anymore, and would leave her. She wanted to end things while they were still on good terms, and before anyone got hurt too badly. It would hurt now, but in the end, he would thank her. She was sure of it.

"It's over Pete," she said quietly, "I think it was pretty much over before it started. Fate saw to that. Something always comes up to tear us apart. You dying, _twice_, Me getting stuck in this intangible form, you falling for the alien healer Zsaji. There are far too many things going against us for us to work in the long run, and I think its best if-"

"Katya, no don't-" Piotr began, but she cut him off.

"I think it's best if we just end things now. You deserve a woman you can touch, one you can actually make love to, someone you can actually _kiss_. Peter, it's over. I love you with all my heart, but it's over," she said. Then disappeared. Emma appeared then with a look on her face that read pure sympathy.

"Peter, I'm sorry, she shut her mind off to me, effectively ending the psi-link. I thin perhaps you should take some time alone," she said, not really knowing what to say, as shocked at what she just witnessed, and yet, not entirely shocked since she had also see this coming for weeks now.

Peter cut his mind off from the link as well, and looked at Emma. He just sat there, and put his head in his hands. A tear fell, and he got up and stormed out of Emma's office. He went to his room and slammed the door.

Fillmore District, 3pm

Giselle had just gotten to the scene when their agents were removing the furniture. At a normal crime scene, everything would had to have remained just as it was found for fear of damaging evidence. That was something Giselle and her team didn't have to worry about at all. Giselle was not the only person on the team who was a mutant. The entire organization was run by mutants. Lola, the girl who had been killed was their leader until Julius had shown up. Lola was a shifter, she could become anyone and anything, and had the ability to change her scent as well as manipulate the pheromones she emitted. This made her an absolute asset in the field. Until Julius had shown up.

Julius was a shifter as well, and could do pretty much everything that Lola could. But the main difference was that Julius had a healing factor, and voluntarily had adamantium bonded to his fingers and skull, and around his heart, making him even more of an asset than Lola. So she had been demoted, and fell into a depression because of it. She began drinking heavily, showing up late to work, if at all. She was living her life on the edge, attending sex clubs and slowly developing an addiction to cocaine, which she had been able to keep secret until the agents showed up and were investigating the scene of her death.

"You think you know a person," Julius said, exiting the kitchen and looking at Giselle. Julius was about an inch shorter than Giselle, standing at 5'11'', with long dreads and cat-like eyes that glowed. His canines came down into long fangs, giving him an almost vampiric appearance. Giselle didn't have to be a telepath in order to tell that he didn't give a damn that Lola was dead, he was only here because Bionka made him come. They heard a noise at the door and turned to face it. There they saw a tall Asian woman enter.

Neveah Lee was Giselle's other colleague and was the only one left on the team that she liked anymore. Neveah was extremely flexible, and was gifted in several forms of martial arts as well as possessing the ability to teleport and one other ability that made it absolutely necessary that she be here. Neveah could simply touch a part of a room, and see everything that happened in that room throughout it's entire history. The farther back she went however, she less she remembered about what was going on in her own life.

"Neveah, nice of you to show up," Julius said, clearing his throat, "I see that I must be the only one who takes this job seriously"

"Shove it, Julius," Neveah said, "you act like we're here to bring Jesus back from the dead." At this she bent down in the middle of the room and touched the floor. Her eyes turned completely black and glowed with a faint purple light around the rims. She reached up with her free hand and took Giselle's hand, a signal for Giselle to link there minds. Giselle closed her eyes and focused, and then she heard a popping sound and saw what Neveah was seeing. She heard another popping sound and felt Julius was watching too.

The vision looked like watching a videotape on rewind, as they saw themselves enter the room, and then their agents leaving, and as they went further back, they saw Lola entering her apartment with a man. He had a mohawk, which was the first thing Giselle noticed. The man was wearing a black suit, which made him look attractive in a "Mad Men" kind of way, but that was where the attraction ended. She needed to get a better look at his face. When Neveah had these visions, once inside the vision with her, you could move around, and were intangible to the world inside the vision. Giselle walked up to the man and was about to get a good look at his face when Lola kissed him.

"Neveah, go back to when they first came in," Giselle said. The scene before them began to rewind again, and Giselle was very thankful for her intangibility at the moment because if she hadn't been intangible, she would've been punched in the face by Lola. The scene began to replay and Giselle got a good look at the man's face. And stopped. She had a dream about this man the night Lola died.

5pm, Downtown

Daken awoke with a feeling of satisfaction on his face. Two days since the attack and nothing had happened to him. No one came after him the way the girl said they would. No police, no ambush, nothing to make Daken believe that anyone even knew he was in the states. He went out onto his balcony an looked out at Utopia X. He felt drawn there for some reason. Most likely because of what had happened the last time he went out there. He had come to California with the main goal of learning more of the truth of his past and his mother, to learn what was real what Romulus had made up. At this point he was certain Romulus made up everything he had ever been told.

After a shower and a fresh outfit, Daken left the hotel, heading to the marina. He was going out to Utopia X today, and no one was going to stop him. Until he saw her. She was walking towards the muni station, with a dark hoodie, tight jeans, and boots. She had hazel-green eyes, and long dark hair that cascaded in waves down her back. He began to follow her. There was something about her that he needed. He didnt understand why but she was what he wanted. He ran down the stairs into the underground train station, but she was nowhere to be found. He tried to smell her, or hear her, but to no avail. She was gone. And he needed to find her. He couldn't explain why, he just had this uncontrollable urge to go after her and find her.

6pm, Tenderloin, HQ

"So she was murdered by a trick," Bionka summed up. There was no evidence of it being a hate crime towards a mutant or a transgender woman, so Bionka just figured that Lola was now prostituting herself and the man was an unsatisfied customer. The only reason she thought that way was because Lola had started out as a prostitute when she first came to San Francisco.

Lola couldn't find work anywhere, and not because she was a mutant, but because the employers refused to look past her being trans. They saw her and assumed, _Oh, she's a transsexual? I don't want that in my business. Customers will think we run a brothel in the back rooms_. After a week of job hunting, she was about to lose the hotel room where she was staying so she gave up and went to the track. She saw other trans women doing the same thing, and after a few months, she was making enough money to pay her room fee everyday, and maybe get something to eat, or a few toiletries here and there. Bionka found her like that, and offered to help her. That's how Lola ended up at the agency. And now she was dead.

"Bionka, I know who did this," Giselle piped up, "Just let me go undercover and I can get him and bring him in!"

"Giselle, at this point, why would we bother? He was a pissed off trick. And there's nothing we can do about it but wait for him to do it again, and next time, call it in to the proper authorities," Bionka said. She hated that this was the position she had to take, but at this point, that was the only option. The agency wasn't exactly legal, and bringing in the authorities now would only reveal their organization to be a mutant owned and operated assassination firm. Then they would all be in jail. Not to mention the X-Men would then know about them, which would piss her off royally after all the hard work she and her scientists went through to make sure that they would not be picked up by any mutant tracking software.

"You know what, Bionka," Giselle said, disgust dripping from her voice, "I quit." And then walked out. Bionka was stunned. Giselle was the last one she ever thought would quit the agency. Now she was down a telepath. This was not going to last very long.

"Do you want me to go after her, boss," Julius said, moving towards the door.

"No, let her go. Give her a few weeks to cool off. She was very close with Lola, so she probably just needs some time to grieve. However nobody walks away from the agency, and I mean nobody. In 6 weeks, we retrieve her, whether she likes it or not."

A week later

6pm, Utopia X

There was a loud knock at the door, waking Peter from his sleep.

"Come on Ruskie," he heard Logan say from the other side of the door, "We're going out."

"Go away," he yelled back. His door was then opened and Wolverine looked at him, "We're going out, and there's nothing you can say or do to change that. Get dressed, get your shit, and let's go."

About 20 minutes later, they were in a bar, off Sutter and Market streets in San Francisco. They both had a beer, and Peter appeared to be feeling the effects of it more than Logan, most likely because he didn't have that convenient healing factor. That's when she entered the bar. She stood about six feet tall, and had long dark hair that fell down to her chest in curls. She had hazel-green eyes, and skin that glowed as if she had just returned from a vacation in the tropics. She was wearing a leather jacket with a white tee shirt and blue skinny jeans, with riding boots that went up to just under her knees, and had on silver hoop earrings, a silver chain, and was flawless as far as the men were concerned.

Logan sensed something about her immediately. Her scent was a mixture of perfumes, makeup smells, and testosterone, something he could not recall ever smelling on a woman. Then it hit him. They were in San Francisco, _duh_, she must be a man right? Her top was low cut enough though that her cleavage could not be fake, not by any stretch of the imagination. He continued to wonder, and as she sat down at the bar, he figured he was just getting old. Peter was openly staring at her, and Logan felt a responsibility to his friend to let him in on what he had gathered, even if he doubted the information.

"Pete, you see something you like, bub," Logan asked, a slight teasing tone in his voice.

"Logan, look at her, she's beautiful," Colossus responded, not taking his eyes of the woman for a second. That's when she looked up at them.

Giselle felt their eyes on her from the moment she entered the bar, and was wary of them. She was here tonight to try and find the man who had killed Lola. In order to do that she was going to go undercover, and do everything that Lola had done the night she was murdered. So what if Bionka and the rest of the team didnt care what happened to her. Lola was her friend, the only real friend she had ever had, and she was going to do whatever it took to solve her murder and bring that man to justice. Bionka and the team be damned.

So that's Chapter Two. Let me know what you thought of it!


	3. Paths Cross

DISCLAIMER: THE ONLY THINGS IN THIS STORY THAT I OWN ARE MY OC, AND THE STORY IDEA, EVERYTHING ELSE PERTAINING TO THE MARVEL UNIVERSE BELONGS TO MARVEL. I AM ONLY DOING WHAT ANY AVID FAN WOULD DO, AND PUTTING A BIT OF MYSELF INTO THE STORY. DONT WE ALL LIKE TO DO THAT? ^_^

Characters: Giselle Bermudez/Charm (OC), Piotr Rasputin/Colossus, Katherine Pryde/Shadowcat, Daken, Dr. Hank McCoy/Beast, Laura Kinney/X-23, Emma Frost, Scott Summers/Cyclops, Logan/James Howlett/Wolverine, Various other Marvel Universe Characters and OC's

Summary: Kitty and Peter have a conversation that changes things. Giselle and her colleagues investigate the death of Lola, and Daken begins to feel something that he cant explain.

A/N: How did you guys like the last chapter? I'm sorry it took so long for me to post this short chapter, but hopefully you guys like it. Please R&R!

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><p><p>

**Chapter Three**

**Paths Cross**

Peter could not believe his eyes. The most beautiful woman he'd ever seen was sitting at the bar, and had now looked at him. The look in her eyes was wary, but the gentle giant was not going to back down. It had been a week since Kitty had dumped him, and he was tired of sulking. He needed to suck it up and be a man as Logan would say. At least that's what he thought Logan would say. The girl before him was too beautiful to pass up. Her skin seemed to glow, as though she spent all her time during the daylight hours soaking up the rays of the sun, and her eyes contrasted against it beautifully. Her hair fell down to her chest and down her back like a dark waterfall, and her lips were too perfect for words. She was also close to his height, only about six or so inches shorter than he was.

"Can I help you, Abercrombie," the woman asked in a tone that basically said, _what the f*ck are you lookin' at?_ Logan chuckled. Whatever he had gathered about this person based on their scent alone, he liked her spunk. She had an attitude, but not too much. Just enough to let you know not to screw with her. She was pretty, but not really Logan's type. She was too tall, and if the scent he got off her was truly her scent, then he was not going to go down that road. He had tried that before, and it just wasn't his thing. Peter however, wasn't going to let her attitude dissuade him from trying to flirt with him.

"You're just so beautiful," the Russian said, "Almost too beautiful to be real."

"Thanks, that's probably the five million and twenty second time I've heard that one," she said. The bartender brought her a beer and she took it, left a hefty tip, and went back to the pool table. She seemed to be getting along with all the other guys in the place, and Peter wondered if maybe she cold sense he was a mutant. Was she geno-ist against mutants? That was something Peter couldn't stand for. He was about to get up, but Logan sensed what he was going to do based on his drunkenness, heart rate, pheromone levels, and scent. He could smell a bit of aggression coming off him.

"Slow down there Pete," Logan said, "I think there's more than meets the eye to that one, and you might not like all of it"

7pm, Daken's Hotel Room

He never managed to leave the city. He was now obsessed with this woman he had seen. He didn't know why, but something about her had him captivated. He was trying to scent her everywhere she went, looking for that combination of rose water perfume, slight makeup smell, and a musk that was different from any other woman or man he had ever scented before. He went back to his room after he had lost her in the muni station, and was trying to figure out what to do. He finally couldn't take it anymore, and left the hotel, looking for a bar. The wind was blowing a bit strongly, and that's when he caught the scent again. He felt his pupils dilate, and he could almost visualize the trail, he followed it, and soon came to the same bar that she had to be in. He also caught two very familiar scents that put him on edge. One was his father, Logan, and the scent of a drunk Russian he knew only as Colossus. But he could smell Her in there too. He weighed the pro's and cons, and decided it would be best to stake her out, watch and wait until she had left the bar.

Back inside, after sobering up a bit, Peter was ready to try again with the young woman. He approached her as she sat at the bar watching the basketball game on the television with little interest, obviously watching simply to pass the time.

"Miss, I want to apologize for offending you earlier," he began, "I was intoxicated, and your beauty stunned me into a stupor. May I please make it up to you?"

Giselle looked him up and down, and after about 2 minutes, right when she sensed he was about to turn away in defeat, she relented. Her features softened and she said, "Hey, no big deal, I was kind of a bitch anyways." At this they both laughed, and she invited him to join her. She was getting tired of being here alone, and this cute guy with a bit of a Russian accent might help the time go by faster.

"I'm Giselle," she said, holding out her hand, "and you are?"

"Piotr Nikolaievitch Rasputin," he said taking her hand and kissing it, "but you can call me Peter," he finished with a grin. The began to talk, the entire time Giselle was on alert, quickly scanning the minds of the patrons coming and going from the bar. A few hours and a lot of drinks later, she was going to call it a night. She was way to intoxicated to try and be on a mission tonight, and this guy was way too cute for her to pass up. She got up from her seat, and that's when the liquor hit her extra hard. She stumbled, and got back up, a silly smile on her face that said, _I look like a complete and total idiot now in front of a really hot guy, way to go G!_

"Are you okay," Peter asked, helping her to stand up with a worried smile. _This woman, there's something different about her, I know there is, I just can't put my finger on it. And is it too soon for me to be interested in someone after Katya and I broke up? I really like this woman though, what am I going to do?_

"I'm fine, I just have to go to the little telepath's room," she said and immediately froze, they hadn't discussed their abilities, and she was sure he was going to stop talking to her now, most guys didn't want a girlfriend that was also a "mutie". Her eyes were the size of silver dollars as she looked at him, trying to come up with a way to back-pedal when Peter smiled and said, "Well allow me to escort you, krasivyĭbeautiful"

Peter escorted her to the women's room and after she went in, Logan went and stood next to his friend.

"You two seem to be hittin it off pretty well, huh?"

"I really like her, tovarishch," Peter said, "but I'm worried that I'm becoming interested in someone only a week after Katya and I broke up"

"first of all," began Logan in a im-not-taking-any-shit tone, "Kitty dumped _you_, okay, bub? Second of all, you're a single man, you can do whatever you want, and finally, I never knew you were into girls like her," he finished, nodding his head in the direction of the bathroom door. Peter got an inquisitive look on his face just then, and was about to ask Logan what he meant when the door opened and Giselle came out looking a little less drunk, and a bit refreshed.

"So," she said, slurring her words, "I hate to do this, but I have to go home, It's late, and I'm very tired. Can you take me to my car?" Logan and Peter looked at each other and Logan shook his head. He knew Peter was not about to let this drunk woman drive home intoxicated, he was that much of a boyscout.

Thirty minutes later, Peter had convinced Giselle to let him and Logan make sure she got home safely, and they were in the car. Logan was driving, and Peter was in the back seat with Giselle leaning on him. They were all quiet, Logan paying attention to the road and very sure of what he had suspected earlier now that he was in her car and practically drowning in her scent, Peter wondering if she would even remember him and if she would still want to know him. He really liked her, although he was still wrestling with his feelings about getting involved so soon after his recent breakup. He didn't want Giselle to be what American's called a "rebound", he knew that much, he wanted to be able to fully commit if she was willing to give it a shot. Giselle was thinking about how even though she was thankful for the ride, and the comfort Peter was giving her in the backseat by letting her lay on him and wrapping his arms around her, she had a feeling it would all be over once he found out she wasn't exactly born the way she was.

A few cars behind, a taxi was following the car, mimicking it's every turn. Daken was driving it, the lifeless body of the driver in the passenger seat. The woman that he was enamored with was with two men he didn't much care for. Two X-Men. Although it's an understatement to say Daken didn't care for his father, Logan. He despised him. He hated him even more so now that the irresistible woman was in a car with him on the way to her house! Daken had been staking out the bar all night, doing all he could to stay downwind of the entrance which was difficult in the fickle San Francisco winds, and had been able to pick up bits and pieces of the annoyingly inebriated conversation between the woman and the Russian.

The cars made their way into the Pacific Heights neighborhood, and Daken backed off. He watched the car turn onto Scott and Washington Streets. He parked a block up, and walked to the corner. He watched as the two men helped the woman up some stairs to a door, and disappear inside. After they had gone, he went up to house, up the stairs, and used his claw to pick the lock, and move in. He heard noise and looked up. It was an apartment building and they sounded as though they might be on the top floor. Then he heard Logan shush Giselle and tell his friend to be quiet.

"We're not alone," Logan said in a growl.

I know this was a short chapter, but I needed to move the story along, and as much as I kept trying, things kept being dragged out. I will make it up to you in Chapter Four though, a lot of action is coming up!


	4. It Begins

DISCLAIMER: THE ONLY THINGS IN THIS STORY THAT I OWN ARE MY OC, AND THE STORY IDEA, EVERYTHING ELSE PERTAINING TO THE MARVEL UNIVERSE BELONGS TO MARVEL. I AM ONLY DOING WHAT ANY AVID FAN WOULD DO, AND PUTTING A BIT OF MYSELF INTO THE STORY. DONT WE ALL LIKE TO DO THAT? ^_^

Characters: Giselle Bermudez/Charm (OC), Piotr Rasputin/Colossus, Katherine Pryde/Shadowcat, Daken, Dr. Hank McCoy/Beast, Laura Kinney/X-23, Emma Frost, Scott Summers/Cyclops, Logan/James Howlett/Wolverine, Various other Marvel Universe Characters and OC's

Summary: Logan and Daken fight, Giselle reveals her secret to Peter, and the plot begins to thicken.

A/N: Thank you guys for being so patient with me after that last chapter. This one is pretty good, some revelations that will send the next chapter into overdrive. Things wont' be the same for Giselle and the X-Men after this!

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**Chapter Four**

**It Begins**

"We're not alone," Logan said in a growl. He turned around, cocking his head left and right, looking down into the darkness. He took a deep breath, trying to see if he could catch the scent of someone else. That's when he knew that his son was downstairs. Daken was being every bit as stealthy as he could, but Logan knew he was there. He could feel the tension radiating off his son.

"Comrade, what is it," Peter asked, holding Giselle protectively. If his friend and team-mate was this on edge then Peter figured that it was cause for alarm.

"I'll be right back," Logan said, then jumped over the railing and disappeared into the darkness. Peter and Giselle paused for a moment, and then she picked her keys off the floor were Logan had dropped them before he jumped, and opened her door.

At the bottom of the stairs, Daken was hidden in the shadows when he saw the familiar form of his father drop into view from above.

"Daken," Logan said, "what are you doing here?"

"None of your concern, _father_," Daken said, spitting out the final word. Then he attacked. _Snikt!_ They both unsheathed their claws at the same time, and Daken lunged at his father. Punch, punch, kick, slash, punch, slash, kick, pause. They fell away from each other panting.

"I'm going to ask you again, what are you doing here," Logan said as the slashes his son had inflicted healed within seconds.

"Who is she," Daken said, ignoring his father, and then lunging at him once more. Kick, slash, punch, elbow, flip, kick, kick, slash, pause. It was Daken's turn to heal as they panted.

"A girl that Peter met, why," Logan asked, now suspicious of the girl herself. Daken lept at Logan, who at this point simply stepped out of the way. Daken tried again, and Logan simply grabbed his head, and smashed it against his raised knee, knocking him out. On a normal man, had a normal knee smashed him, he would be unconscious for a while. Logan's adamantium knee against his mutant son's skull had the same effect. Logan lifted his son over his shoulder, and carried him up the stairs to Giselle's apartment. He got to the door to find it open and walked in. He deposited Daken onto the girl's couch, and then turned around to close and lock the door. He didn't see Peter or Giselle, but smelled them coming from a room with a closed door. Had he been with Gambit when they met the girl, he would've suspected something less than honorable was going on behind that door, but Peter was most likely just tucking her in. Logan knocked on the door.

After entering the apartment, Giselle offered Peter a drink, and then went to her bedroom, leaving the door open. She grabbed some pj's, and went into the attached bathroom. She exited a few short minutes later in long blue pajama pants with sheep on them and a white tank top. Her hair was up in a bun and her makeup was off. Peter stood in the door frame to her bedroom and gazed at her.

"You're beautiful," he said. She chuckled and replied, "You're still drunk aren't you?"

"No, I'm sober now," he said. She sat on her bed and he joined her. "I would like to see you again Giselle," he said, "In a setting that does not include alcohol," he finished with a laugh. Giselle smiled and then sighed, her expression changing to one that wasn't very promising.

"Peter," she began, "you're a nice guy, like, a really nice guy, and I wouldn't feel right seeing you again under false pretenses." Peter seemed confused, and looked at her for clarification. She looked into his eyes and said, "Peter, I'm not a biological woman. I'm a transsexual." She paused and moved away from him. She hid her face in her pillow, and continued, "I know you've changed your mind about me. I understand if you leave."

After a few moments of silence, she heard her door close and was sure he was gone. She got up and was surprised to see him still there. He was standing by her door, and looking at her. She got up and stood by her bed.

"I thought you were gone," she said, now slightly nervous.

"What kind of man would I be if I stopped talking to a woman I like because she happens to be a little different," he said, and held his arms out to her. She walked up to him, and he wrapped his arms around her. They hugged for a minute, and then she looked up at him. He looked down, meeting her gaze, and kissed her. They stood kissing for a while, and heard some noise in the living room. She pulled back and Peter said, "It's just Logan" and resumed kissing her. Then they heard a knock on the door. They pulled apart and Peter opened the door, and they saw Logan, his shirt ripped and a fresh cigar in his mouth.

"What happened," Giselle asked.

"My son happened," said Logan, pointing his cigar towards her couch. Peter and Giselle came out of her bedroom and saw a man on the couch. Giselle noticed the mohawk, zoomed over to his face and gasped.

"You know him," Logan asked, waiting for his suspicions of her to be confirmed.

"This is the man who killed my best friend," she said, tears welling up in her eyes.

The next morning

Emma was in her office, getting caught up on what was going on with Hope. She had found one of the mutants who had shown up on Cerebro in Toronto. But there was something else going on. She could feel a tugging in her brain that told her something was about to come about that would involve the X-Men. She just figured it was going to be something to do with Hope and one of the young mutants. She had just wrapped her conversation with Hope when Scott walked in.

"Hello Darling," she said rising to greet him with a kiss. "How are you? Have you heard from Logan or Peter? They've been gone since 6pm yesterday."

"They arrived during the night while you were asleep. I didn't want to disturb you. They brought two people with them. One is someone you're not going to like at all, and the other is completely new. Apparently not all mutants are here on the island after all," Scott replied. It unnerved him that it was a concrete fact that other than the five mutants to show up on Cerebro there were only 198 mutants left powered after M-Day. And after Utopia-X was formed, most of them except for a handful of X-Men with duties around the world where there. So why did this young woman not show up on Cerebro if she indeed was a mutant? It bothered him because it meant either Cerebro was faulty, or this young woman was lying. He was more inclined to believe the latter than the former.

"Why won't I like the other one," Emma asked, "Is it my sister?"

"No, it's Daken," Scott said simply. Emma gave him a look that said, _you have got to be kidding me_.

"Where are they," she asked. Scott led his lover down to the war room. Logan and Peter were there with a young Latina woman. They all stood as Scott and Emma entered the room.

"Why is Daken here," Emma demanded. The young woman had a look on her face that let Emma know she wasn't going to be rattled by someone yelling at her. _Good_, Emma thought, _at least she can keep her wits about her_. She looked from Peter to Logan. She was expecting one of them to answer. Logan spoke up.

"Because I figured ya bleedin hearts would want him in the brig here rather'n have him locked away at 850," he said gruffly. Logan didn't like this woman one bit, Giselle could gather that from the way he spoke to her. Apparently Peter didn't either. The woman looked at Giselle, looked her dead in the eye. Giselle looked directly back at her, unflinching. Then she felt it. A presence trying to enter her mind, she took it to be the woman. She locked her mind off from the intrusion.

"Next time you'd like to read my mind, ask permission," Giselle said calmly.

"Not a problem," Emma replied, a look of irritation on her face. _Miserable cow_, Emma thought to herself. _I heard that_, Giselle replied. Emma's eyes widened and she smiled. Another telepath, things were going to be very interesting around here with this young woman here. Emma walked over to greet the young woman, extending her hand.

"I apologize," Emma lied, "My name is Emma Frost, and you are?"

"I know who you are," Giselle replied coolly, "I know who all of you are, I just didn't realize I was with two of the X-Men last night until our little run in with that murderer. A pleasure to finally meet you in person, though, Miss Frost."

"Murderer? You mean Daken's killed someone in the city," Scott asked, now growing irritated. If this got on the news, it would be horrific for mutant-human relations.

"Yes, he killed my best friend, and colleague. A week ago just about."

"How do ya know it was him and not some other jerk with an axe to grind against mutants," Logan asked, even though he already knew. Giselle had told him and Peter the story already, but he wanted her to tell Scott and Emma, because they needed to know that this woman was not only a mutant, but what she did, that there were more like her, and that after the way she left them, she was most likely in danger of being "reclaimed" by them similarly to how Weapon-X came after him, and "The Facility" went after his clone, Laura.

Giselle filled Scott and Emma in on what had happened, how she had learned about it, and how she left the agency to find Lola's killer on her own. Scott and Emma reeled at this information. Not only were there other mutants who had survived M-Day, but they were mercenary assassins, and had all been implanted with chips that would keep them from appearing on any mutant detection software on the planet.

"So what do you want to do now," Emma asked, clearly ready to move forward. She wasn't the type to sit around and mull things over. She wanted to formulate a plan, and put it into action. She knew that by telling them about the agency, she had just betrayed them, and couldn't go back. She also had a feeling that she divulged the information about the agency a little too readily. She was wondering if it was because this woman made a habit of telling the truth, or if she was trying to help set up an ambush.

"I want to kill him," Giselle said, "I want to make him suffer the way he made Lola suffer. I want him to die without any dignity, and I want it to drag on for hours."

The passion in her reply caught Peter off guard. Giselle hadn't seemed to be the kind of woman who could wish this kind of pain on anyone, no matter what her motivation was. Her blunt rely startled him, but he had to remember that he had only met her hours before, and in that time, she had revealed a lot to him. He had taken her first admission in stride, deciding that no matter how she had been born, he saw a woman before him, and that the attraction he had for her wasn't going to change simply because of a difference in her DNA or anatomy.

"Killing him wont bring your friend back, Giselle," Scott said. He didn't care what Daken had done, the "eye for an eye" mentality didn't sit right with him at all. And he shared the same thought as Emma. That she had betrayed her agency too easily, and that she was either ready to go head to head with the people who had trained her, or that she was part of an elaborate trap. Either way, he wasn't sure that the X-Men were going to be able to help her with anything other than bringing Daken to justice for the murder of her friend.

"I never said it would," Giselle answered calmly, "but it will help me feel a little better."

Noon, The Agency

"Julius! Get in here," Bionka yelled from her office. It was a pretty sweet office actually. She had a great view of the City, and it was raised above the rest of the main office space. There was a bridge outside her door that overlooked everything, and had stairs on either side leading down to the rest of the offices. Everything was pretty much stainless steel though. The floors were concrete, and all the windows to the offices except for hers had cheap white vertical blinds on them. Her windows were clear.

"Yes Bionka," the mutant said as he entered her office barely two minutes later.

"I've changed my mind. Giselle has been gone long enough, and according to surveillance, she stopped at her house for a maximum of 30 minutes with two men. She left with three, one of whom was unconscious and seems to match the description she gave of Lola's murderer. After following the group further, it was apparent that they were heading for Utopia-X. I dont know if she went willingly or was taken, however I dont care at this point." She stopped to take a breath. What she was about to say was going to be very hard for her. She considered Giselle to be the closest thing to a daughter she had. But Giselle's behavior made Bionka feel that she had betrayed the agency, and more importantly, her.

"Take a team out to that god forsaken rock, and bring her back. However, should she resist, kill her." Julius took this in. He was a tad shocked at Bionka's orders, but was inclined to follow them anyway. He couldn't stand the young telepath and was ready to do what he saw fit.

A few minutes later, Julius was in the conference room with a team of their finest combatants.

"All of you are here for one reason only. I have been charged with a mission of the utmost importance by Ms. Stevens, and I will not fail. We are to infiltrate the mutant island, and terminate agent Bermudez. She has betrayed the confidence of the agency, putting all of us at risk. So do not stop with her. Everyone and anyone who has had contact with her must also be exterminated, and since we cannot exactly pinpoint who that may be, the entire island must be taken down. Not all of you will survive. You cannot however back out of this mission now. You all knew the risks of working for this agency when you signed up," He said as he paced back and forth in the front of the large, crowded room. The room had a capacity of two hundred and fifty people. There were five hundred in front of him. Bionka had charged him with a small extraction mission. He was mounting a small scale battle that would end one of two ways, successful, or an utter failure. He knew however that Bionka was being too soft on the renegade agent, letting her own personal feelings cloud her judgement. This was how it needed to be done, and once it was over, Bionka's boss would recognize that Julius was the one who needed to run things around here. Had he been in charge of this organization, Lola wouldn't have been here in the first place, and this whole situation wouldn't be happening.

"We move out at dusk, be prepared to never see sunrise," He concluded and left the room.

4pm, Utopia-X, the brig

Daken had woken up in a strange room that he couldnt get out of. It was dark, smelled absolutely foul, and had no windows. The entry was blocked with a forcefield of somekind that he couldn't cut through, and the walls had been reinforced with adamantium. He was trapped. He didnt like to be trapped. He had tried at first to walk through the forcefield, but it turned out to be completely solid. After a few hours of trying to break out, he sat in the middle of the floor and began to meditate. He didnt know how long he had been there when he heard some noise. A door opening and footsteps. A quick inhalation of the air told him that the girl was here. His eyes snapped open, and he stood up. She came to the opening, and stared at him. The look in here eyes was one of pure hatred. _What have I done to piss her off_, he thought to himself. As far as he knew, they had no prior dealings. The last thing Daken remembered was entering her building and fighting his father.

_I hope you know that she was a good person,_ he heard in his head. She was a telepath, which caught Daken off guard.

_And she didnt deserve to die, especially not the way you did her. I'm going to make sure you pay,_ she projected to him, then sent a series of images. One was the girl he'd met at that club when he first arrived in the city over a week ago, the rest where obviously what she wanted to do to him. She had envisioned him enduring all kinds of torture, and Daken smiled. He loved a woman with passion.

"Kinky," he said in response. Her eyes widened and her face read disgust. Then she turned on her heel, and left.


	5. Bloodshed

DISCLAIMER: THE ONLY THINGS IN THIS STORY THAT I OWN ARE MY OC, AND THE STORY IDEA, EVERYTHING ELSE PERTAINING TO THE MARVEL UNIVERSE BELONGS TO MARVEL. I AM ONLY DOING WHAT ANY AVID FAN WOULD DO, AND PUTTING A BIT OF MYSELF INTO THE STORY. DONT WE ALL LIKE TO DO THAT? ^_^

Characters: Giselle Bermudez/Charm (OC), Piotr Rasputin/Colossus, Katherine Pryde/Shadowcat, Daken, Dr. Hank McCoy/Beast, Laura Kinney/X-23, Emma Frost, Scott Summers/Cyclops, Logan/James Howlett/Wolverine, Various other Marvel Universe Characters and OC's

Summary: The Agency's Julius launches an attack on Utopia-X, Lockheed approves, and Daken busts out.

A/N: thank you to all my reviewers! I'm glad you're enjoying the direction things are going in, and I really appreciate the praise regarding Peter and Daken. I wasn't so sure that I was doing a good job of keeping them in character, especially Peter, but I'm glad to see you all enjoyed it. This Chapter is going to put some things to the test though, and is going to lead to something you may not see coming! Enjoy!

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**Chapter Five**

**Bloodshed**

Dusk, The Cafeteria

"I really appreciate all you have done for me Emma, but I can't stay," Giselle said to Emma as she watched the blonde telepath sip her tea, "the longer I stay here, the higher the risk of the Agency attacking your haven becomes. I can't in good conscience stay here and put all of this at risk."

"Giselle," Emma began, "Why exactly would this 'Agency' be so keen on attacking us when it's common knowledge that not only the X-Men, but Magneto, and Professor Charles Xavier are here? They would have to be completely daft!"

"Telepaths, master's of magnetism, and superheroes don't frighten these people when it comes to battle. Logan would barely cause their worst agent to break a sweat! It's better if I leave, and deal with the consequences on my own," Giselle said, hoping against hope that the stubborn woman across from her would just let her leave. She was telling the truth about The Agency, but hadn't been sincere in her true motives for wanting to leave. She was still in the pajamas she'd changed into, and wanted to get some rest in her own bed. Besides, Peter was the only one she had told her secret to. Logan had told her that he knew all along, it was her scent. That slightly offended her. Being told that she smelled like a transsexual. She knew he just meant the pheromones, something a normal human nose doesn't consciously detect, but it still kind of threw her.

"Giselle, you're a smart woman, and I am confident that you know just as well as I do that if you go back to your apartment, you face certain death. From what you've told me about this agency as well as what I was able to get from your mind, they would have had you under surveillance the minute you told them to go screw themselves, and they know that you are here. They would have to have an army to be able to cause any real damage."

Outside, at the edges of the island, men began to climb out of the water, oxygen tanks attached to their backs. Guns drawn, ready to fire, these men were ready to fight. Julius had shifted into a peregrine falcon and flown over the water. He was positioned at one end of the artificial island, using the amplified vision to scope out the entire area. He saw his men taking the coasts easily, effortlessly. He flew from his perch, and began to circle the island. He looked in the many windows, searching for Giselle's location. He saw her through the windows, in what must have been an eating area, sitting with a woman he hadn't seen in person in ages. _Bingo_, he thought and flew back to where his soldiers were waiting. On the way, he spotted two figures that were familiar to him walking the outside grounds and immediately was nervous. Charles Xavier and Erik Lensherr. Both were extremely powerful mutants who could hinder this mission terribly if they saw fit.

He made it back to his troops and shifted into his normal form. Compared to the form he took in the city, even when on assignment with The Agency, this form was majestic. He stood seven feet tall, and appeared very similar to a humanoid lion with tiger stripes. His eyes, although still catlike, now had a neon green glow to them, and his mane was made of thin, ropey dreadlocks. He had a scar over his left eye, that he had gotten as a cub from his father, and his hands extended in a humanoid fashion, with long claws attached that could cut glass even more efficiently than diamond. He stood and looked over his entire brigade, and began to speak.

"This is not going to be easy, and many if not all of you will die tonight. Remember, our primary objective is to kill Agent Bermudez, and our secondary objective is to clean this joke of a nation out. We cannot risk any knowledge of The Agency getting out there." With that he let his commanders divide their teams out and once he was satisfied that they'd had enough time, he let out a monstrous growl and said, "Move out!"

"Charles, I know we have differed in the past in regards to our methods, but this is truly for the best. This Island is a place for all mutants to feel safe and secure that they needn't worry that they will be-," Erik stopped, he heard something like a lion or a tiger growling. Charles had also stopped, and was concentrating, no doubt having heard the same thing. Suddenly his eyes widened, "Erik, there is an attack underway as we speak! I must warn the others," he finished, and then relayed the info to Emma. Thirty seconds later, sirens were blaring and red lights were flashing everywhere.

"I told you," Giselle said as she ran after Emma to the locker rooms. Emma opened the door and pushed the young Latina in.

"You, there's a spare uniform in that locker, put it on, and let me know when you're ready," Emma said distractedly, she was telepathically sending the warning to all the other X-Men on the island, and broadcasting a messaged to the rest of the mutants on the island to either hide or be prepared to fight for their lives.

"but-," Giselle began only to be cut off.

"You brought them here, you're going to help us dispose of them," Emma said, and took off down the hallway and ran into the stairwell. Giselle found a uniform that was all black leather, similar to the ones she had seen countless times in the news whenever another act of heroism by the X-Men was the feature story. She also found some boots, and changed. After she was done dressing, she communicated with Emma telepathically to figure out what her location was, and after 10 minutes and several flights of stairs she joined Peter and Cyclops at the very top of the building as instructed by Emma.

"So what exactly is the situation," Giselle asked as she joined the two. Peter looked at her, relieved to see her in one piece. Scott looked at her with obvious distaste.

"Why are you in that uniform," he asked sourly.

"Because the woman who wears your balls as earrings told me to," she responded calmly. She was not about to deal with some asshole and his own self-righteousness. She had caused the destruction of their home, she got that, but she was also here to help fix it, and if he was going to have a hissy fit about her uniform, he needed to go somewhere else with that b.s.

"Magneto and the Professor are taking care of many of the intruders a the ground level, but many are approaching from other sides of the compound where Logan, Emma, and Armor are fighting it out. We have several young mutants stationed around the island either escorting people to safety or keeping the enemies at bay," Peter said, filling her in on the positions Scott had assigned everyone, "and you look stunning in that uniform," he finished. She looked up at him and he smiled at her, so she smiled back, and they kissed. Giselle usually didn't like corny crap like that from guys. Sure she was a giggly girly girl, but Peter was the kind of guy she rarely got involved with because they seemed too safe. But safe was what she needed now, and if this guy she met just the night before was willing to be that for her, she was all in.

"So why are we up here," Giselle asked. Then she heard it. Wings beating, but gigantic ones, she turned around just in time to see two helicopters and what looked to be a dragon heading straight for them. Cyclops fired on the helicopters, destroying one, and barely missing the other, while he ignored the dragon completely. The dragon came closer and Giselle backed up from its small purple form, a look of slight terror on her face. It came close to her, backing her up against the edge, and sniffed her. Then exhaled sharply and flew up to Peter, and made a clicking sound that led Giselle to believe it was angry. Then it flew off.

"What. The FUCK. Was that," Giselle asked a chuckling Peter. He looked at her and said, "that is Lockheed, my ex-girlfriend's dragon," as though he was telling her that it was going to be a nice day outside. She looked at him dumbfounded.

"Apparently, he likes you," he said and chuckled some more. The second helicopter began to circle back around. Cyclops was preparing to shoot it down when Giselle stopped him. "Let me," she said simply, and began to reach out to the man flying the vessel. She heard the familiar popping sound, and was suddenly looking out of the pilots eyes. She took control of his body and the chopper, and began to fly around the island, shooting the soldiers who had invaded.

the Brig

Daken heard the alarms and stood up, waiting for something to blow a hole he could escape through. He knew that there was a battle raging outside, he could smell it. Even in the brig, where there was minimal ventilation, he could smell the rise in the amount of exposed blood in the air, and it made him tingle. He searched for _her_ scent among the blood, but caught nothing. He sat back down with a smirk. _Any minute now_, he thought to himself.

The Cliffs

Logan and Armor were beating the hell out of these guys when they heard the chopper's blades getting nearer. Emma looked up and tried to figure out what in the hell was going on. She shifted out of her diamond form and began to reach out with her powers when she felt a familiar presence in the pilot's mind. She smiled, _Well I'll be spanked with a feather boa_, she thought to herself, _that girl isn't a completely useless cow after all_.

_ I heard that_, she heard Giselle say in her mind, and let out a soft laugh. She changed back into her diamond form and started kicking ass even harder than before. She looked over at Logan who had a look of pure glee on his face, and than over her other shoulder at Armor who was also enjoying this a bit too much. She shook her head went back into the fight.

The Base

Charles and Magneto were a match made in heaven when it came to a team that was extremely difficult to even injure in battle. Charles froze the soldiers as Magneto disarmed them and would take control of the metal in their gear to send them flying into the chilly waters of the Pacific Ocean. He wasn't trying to kill these men, they were humans, and his old friend would frown upon that extremely so. However, Magneto knew that these waters were rife with sharks of various species, one of which was the great white, and these men would be tasty morsels for the beasts.

Charles on the other hand was focused on the fact that they still had not found the source of the growling they heard minutes before the attack went full strength. He was suspicious of the fact that the beast they had heard had not shown its face yet. Then he heard it. A roar that could only have come from the same beast he and Erik had heard at the start of this battle.

The roof

Giselle was mowing down soldiers left and right, allowing the team to exert less force then they would have needed to had she allowed Scott to blast the thing out of the sky when Peter grabbed her, breaking her connection to the pilot. She turned and yelled, "What are you doing," when she saw it. A beast that looked like a geneticists experiment gone wrong was falling from the sky, claws drawn, heading straight for them. Scott blasted it, and it lost its balance, but landed on the roof with them.

"Head inside, get her out of here," Peter yelled as he changed to his steel form, pushing her behind him. Scott ran to the door grabbing Giselle's arm and dragging her with him. Once they were safely inside with the door closed, Peter turned to face the creature.

"It's only you and I, tovarishch," he said and the beast charged him. Julius attempted to beat the crap out of Colossus, but the Russian had other plans. They went toe to toe for what seemed like forever, and Colossus proved to be a more than worthy adversary for the shape-shifter.

"It's about time I fought someone who could handle a fight with me," Julius said, punching Colossus in the face causing him to stumble backwards a few steps. Colossus regained his balance and sent a right hook at the beast who dodged it and countered with an uppercut to the jaw. Peter's head jerked up from the hit, but he quickly recovered and brought his fists up over his head, and then down onto the monster's skull. The animal collapsed instantly.

Inside the Tower

"What was that thing," Scott yelled at Giselle. Apparently she was the Encyclopedia Britannica when it came to what The Agency had sent after her.

"I have no idea," she replied as they ran down the stairs. The heard the blades from the chopper beating, and seconds later, it crashed into the floor below them, revealing a huge hole and causing an explosion that seared their uniforms. At that moment, Scott had grabbed Giselle, and shielded her with his body. After the dust had cleared, Scott was unconscious and Giselle's head was swimming. She looked at him and saw he wasn't breathing. She administered CPR and mouth to mouth. After a minute that dragged on forever, he came to and a wave of relief washed over her. He was a dick and all, but she didn't need his blood on her hands. They went in the nearest door, and were met with the sight of Daken running down the hall.

The Brig, moments earlier

Daken heard the blades of the helicopter and could tell it was coming nearer. _Right on time_, he thought as the chopper collided into the building, ripping a huge hole in the side of the tower, exposing the hallway just beyond the door to the brig. Several of the cells had been destroyed and his was one of them. He was buried under the rubble and could tell that he had some broken ribs and a broken leg. He began to dig himself out, feeling his ribs snap back into place and heal as he did so. When he finally was free of the rubble, he leg was still in bad shape, but he was able to limp around the destroyed cells until he finally got to the hallway. He followed it and came to some stairs, he climbed the stairs, and tested out his leg. It was in perfect shape now. He began to run down the hallway, and passed a door to the stairwell. As he turned the corner he heard it open and then it hit him. He was halfway down the hall when he caught her scent. The same glorious mixture as before, but now with sweat, singed leather, and smoke added, giving her an even more irresistible scent than ever.

Daken turned and saw that she wasn't alone however, she had the uptight leader of his father's team with her.

"Get out of here," Scott yelled at Giselle as Daken charged them, avoiding the concussive beams that Cyclops sent at him, and when he was close enough, he circled behind the mutant leader and knocked him unconscious from behind. Giselle had run into a room for cover as Scott had ordered her to when Daken was charging them. Daken snickered and entered the room. Her scent was everywhere. He was in a lab of some sort, most likely where the big blue guy did his work. Daken wondered where that guy was for a second when Giselle jumped out from behind the work table in the middle of the room, throwing hydrochloric acid in his face. Daken smiled, and as his healing factor kicked in and began to knit his tissues and skin back together, he grabbed her.

"It's just you and me know, Bijin beauty," he said before knocking her unconscious.

So that's Chapter Five. I hope you guys like it! Please let me know, as you have been doing so far (thank you my_time_is_now, imaninja, and Shayera Jordan), what you think about this chapter and any suggestions you may have about where to take the next one.

Xoxo

Nahla Lebeau 


	6. Help!

Hey guys, so I've hit a bit of writers block, and I'm working on a Chapter 6 right now, but I'm stuck. So I thought that maybe you guys could help me out here. Read (or re-read) the story, and give me your input as to where it should head in the new chapter? This way I can have to story be more influenced by the readers the way I envisioned it from the start? Thank you all! Hope you like what comes of this!


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